BOYS
4. I n t r o d u c t i o n
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4. WOODS & FIELDS 5. URBAN
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6. CAMPSITE
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I n t r o d u c t i o n 5.
,1752'8&7,21 7KLV ERRN LV WKH UHVXOW RI ZKDW KDSSHQHG ZKHQ WKUHH EHVW IULHQGV OHIW WKHLU ZDOOHWV ² DQG WUHSLGDWLRQ ² DW KRPH IRU D PRQWK FOR TWO SUMMERS now, we have taken up a challenge by Channel 4 to travel
around Britain for four weeks with no money – and not just to survive during this time but actually to enjoy ourselves too. We managed 30 days without spending a penny (not like that) and enjoyed (nearly) every minute of it – first in Scotland, and more recently in South-West England. This book aims to share our collective knowledge – not only of how to survive but also of how to enjoy all that’s on offer just outside your own front door. Our survival wasn’t down to the fact that we are experts, although Tim does have his cycling proficiency qualification. Lots of the knowledge we needed just came from experiences and adventures that we have had over the last 20-something years, as well as what we have picked up from books and from our favourite outdoor TV heroes. Add to this our collective knowledge from studying Marine Biology at Uni, and we had enough to get by. Luckily for you, this means you can learn from our mistakes, which is good because for every one of our successes there were many, many failures. So you won’t need to eat salty rice, get tearful when lobsters escape from your pot or get soaked when your shelter collapses in the middle of the night. Rather, we hope that by the end of the book, you will know exactly what to do when you go on an adventure of your own. And, if you do find yourself on a deserted beach, you’ll be able to start a roaring fire, build a lobster pot and tie a spiffing bow line. Now, just a quick note on how to use this book. We’ve divided it into sections that relate to the different environments you might find yourself in on your adventure. As we think it is unlikely that you will be alone in the Arctic or stranded with nothing but a parachute in the Amazon, we’ve chosen environments you will encounter on a typical British adventure. Each section contains information about the animals and plants that live there and, more importantly, which of those you can eat! There is also a bit on how to keep yourself comfortable and, even more importantly, entertained. We’ve also thrown in for good measure some facts, anecdotes and other extras that we think might be useful on your travels. You may even want to put us right or ask us further questions on some of this and, by the power of the internet, you can do this at www.3hungryboys.com.
6. I n t r o d u c t i o n
Ultimately, what we would really like is for this book to inspire you to go on an adventure of your own – and to use some of the knowledge you find tucked away in these pages to help you. Although, as fans of improvisation ourselves, we’ll understand if you decide to modify our tips for your own particular adventure. That said, we should now state for the record that using a tin of baked beans as a hammer will never produce good results. At best you’ll end up with a slightly bent nail or tent peg and a dented can; at worst you’ll be coated head to toe in tomato sauce. Trust us: we have tried many times. So, armed with the right knowledge, some basic equipment and an eagerness for eating potentially unknown foods, we bid you good luck in your quest to master the outdoors. Our journey so far has been amazing: learning something new each time, and, as Trevor says, getting it wrong – lots!
I n t r o d u c t i o n 7.
HELLO MY NAME IS TREVOR BRINKMAN, and I am exactly one third of the Three Hungry Boys. I was born in Amsterdam in May, 1981, and spent the next four years in Holland before moving to England. This was just long enough to learn Dutch, which was nice but not particularly helpful, as outside of Holland no one really speaks it. We moved to London in 1985, where there were no bikes, clogs, raw herring or liquorice and the cheese was of a very mediocre standard. Aged 11, I moved with my mother and brothers to Stroud which is now a place for the rich and famous but back then, due to something to do with ley lines, attracted a very unique kind of person – one that has a mind open to the cosmos and usually several rebellious children in tow. On my first day at new school I heard my soon-to-be-good-friend Geoff telling our tutor exactly where he could put his xylophone beater. This was a very different place to my last school. To make matters worse, I now had a fringe much like Alex James in the Britpop years, but a few years too early. With my stupid hair, I was an instant target and if I hadn’t grown to be about four inches taller than everyone else in the summer I might never have survived. But survive I did. After A levels, I started to move around a lot, owing to some serious indecision in regards to ‘the plan’. This involved Amsterdam, the Isle of Wight, university with Tim and Thom, a year in Australia in search of ‘the plan’, Amsterdam for another year, a degree in industrial design and now the Three Hungry Boys – and that is me, in a nutshell.
8. I n t r o d u c t i o n
I’M TIM CRESSWELL, I’m 29 and currently live on the DevonCornwall border in Plymouth. In spring 2009, at the end of a grim, dark winter, Hunty (that’s Thom to you) and I had a conversation about counting your life in summers. If we lived to the age of 80, then we only had another 50 or so years to enjoy on this beautiful earth! (Bit morbid, but look where it got us.) We decided we’d plan a trip away for the summer; spearfishing, surfing and generally having a blast. Later that night, in bed and very nearly asleep, I thought, ‘You know what. I bet someone somewhere would be up for giving us a camera and making something of this.’ I then thought that the best person, with access to the right gear and a love for this kind of thing, was Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall. So I wrote a bit of a cheeky email to river cottage.net about lending us a camera and letting us film the trip. To our total amazement, we got a reply, and the rest, as they say, is history… I’m a ‘do everything’ kind of person and try to fill every minute with 60 seconds of worthwhile stuff, which partly comes from growing up with two awesome brothers; there was always someone to mess around with when I was a kid. I wouldn’t change a single thing about my upbringing. I met Thom and Trevor in 2000, at university, studying Marine Biology, where we lived together on and off for several years. I now work as a biology teacher and love the subject and the immense challenge and reward of working with young people. I am a closet creative and vent my frustrations by writing music and taking photographs. My family instilled in me the joys of making music with other people at a very young age, and I have done so ever since, playing in several bands, orchestras, jam sessions and the like. My Nan, Audrey, taught me Gilbert and Sullivan and my Great Uncle and Granddad got me into playing the trombone in jazz and big bands. Nowadays, I play guitar and write music for a few bands, so it’s all a little bit cooler (although I do occasionally have a blow on the trombone on mates’ recordings). I co-run a photography business too, shooting all sorts of photos – fashion, music, portraits – for a vast range of people and companies. I’m a big believer in the phase ‘know thyself’. In my opinion, you have to be fixed on what it is you want and get there any way you can. I hear people talking all the time about being disappointed with their lot. No one will ever come along and offer you your dream; you’ve got to make it happen for yourself.
I n t r o d u c t i o n 9.
GETTING ON OUR SOAPBOX IN THE 19TH CENTURY, people who had something they thought was important to say would take a wooden crate to a busy road, stand on the crate and rant at people walking past. Those crates had sometimes been used to carry soap so people would call this getting on your soapbox. You can still see people doing it today at Speaker’s Corner around Hyde Park in London, and often when someone is in the middle of a long monologue about this, that or the other, you can hear people whispering, ‘There they go again, getting on their soapbox.’ Well, dear readers, it is time for us to get on our soapbox. We are only going to be on it for a short while and we promise that by doing this there will be no more nagging for the rest of the book. Really all that we want to do is make sure that both you and the environment you visit look the same after you have been there. The forest should still look like the forest and you should still look like you, but with a big grin on your face. OK, so here we go: our principles for not getting hurt, hurting others or getting into trouble…
16. I n t r o d u c t i o n
6KDUS NQLYHV First things first: knives are sharp. Their main job is to cut things and itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s usually best if these things arenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t you. When handling knives make sure you are safe. If possible, keep a sheath over the knife when it isnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t being used. Definitely donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t run with a knife in your hand â&#x20AC;&#x201C; there are too many things to trip over outside and if you fall on a knife you wonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t be too happy about it. Make sure that your knife is sharp and well looked after, a blunt knife is much more dangerous than a sharp one.
*XQV. We quite often use things like spear guns and air rifles to catch our dinner; they look dangerous but the truth is that in the right hands they are perfectly safe. Some key points to remember are: When not being used, any gun must always be unloaded. Never point a gun or rifle at anyone, even if it is unloaded. Cover sharp points when transporting spears. Check that you are allowed to shoot and what you are allowed to shoot before you start.
7DNH RQO\ DV PXFK DV \RX QHHG When foraging, it is really important to understand that what you are picking or collecting will have an impact on the environment. The plants you take have a role in their ecosystem and removing them can upset the balance. Before you begin foraging have a good think about how much you actually need to take and make sure you are sensible. Make sure too that you are allowed to take plants and animals. It can be against the law in certain areas to remove wildlife, so you need to do some research before you do so.
2QO\ HDW ZKDW \RX DEVROXWHO\ NQRZ WR EH HGLEOH There is no guarantee when foraging that what you are picking is good to eat. It may just be looking a bit tired but it might also be completely inedible or dangerous.You have to use a good deal of common sense to decide whether or not you can eat a plant or mushroom for instance, and some can be lethal. The bottom line is, if you arenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t 100% sure it is edible and from a good, clean, healthy source, you shouldnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t eat it.
$OZD\V FKHFN WKDW \RX DUH DOORZHG WR EH ZKHUH \RX DUH Whether foraging or camping. Donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t make the mistake of wandering through someoneâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s back garden or trekking through a nature reserve. You wouldnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t like it if someone did that to you.
$OZD\V WHOO VRPHRQH ZKHUH \RX¡UH JRLQJ If something goes wrong, there will be someone who can raise the alarm when you donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t return, and will know roughly where you ought to be. This is totally key.
/HDYH RQO\ IRRWVWHSV WDNH RQO\ PHPRULHV This saying basically means: minimise the impact you have on the area you visit. As much as is humanly possible, we make sure that our campsite looks the same when we leave as it did when we arrived. We also take all our rubbish with us and dispose of it properly. In fact, if you can, you should take any rubbish that others have left as well; think of it as payment for your overnight stay.
I n t r o d u c t i o n 17.
18
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PIKE FISHING CATCHING A PIKE has always been a thrilling prospect for me. They are the
perfect predator, found in freshwater systems throughout the UK. They grow to huge sizes (45lb in weight and over 4 foot in length), and with their rows of large, sharp teeth they have something of a legendary status. I have heard of pike so big that they have attacked ducks and even dogs in the water. I have personally been in the process of catching a smaller pike when a much larger one has risen from the depths, flashing its teeth, and clamping down on the smaller pike, before turning with an explosive thrash of water and heading off, snapping my line and leaving me standing on the river bank in stunned silence. Pike are very exciting to catch; they fight hard and can make one of the best freshwater fish to eat. So if you’re interested in testing your fishing ability, your tackle and then possibly your cooking skills, here’s my foolproof guide...
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First and foremost, the old adage: location, location, location. Pike are a naturally occurring predator in many freshwater systems throughout the UK, and the chances are that your local river, lake or canal with any reasonable depth (2-3ft or more) will contain a few of these toothy critters. By far the best thing to do is to find your local fishing tackle shop and see if you can coax some of their extensive knowledge out of them – if you ask nicely, they should happily point you in the direction of a local waterway that contains pike.
22. r i v e r
Keep your fishing tackle and rigs simple. When you enter a tackle shop, the range of wonderful colours, smells and gadgets is enough to leave any newcomer confused. I often think there is just as much tackle out to catch the angler as the fish. Your best bet is: a medium/strong rod of 1012ft, coupled with fixed spool reel loaded with a line of 10 or 12lb breaking strain. The whole set up can be bought from as little as £30. A simple rig of a sturdy, buoyant float to suspend the bait and register the bite, some small round weights to cock the float and add casting weight and a wire trace with a treble hook will do very well. (See Rigs on page 143 for a diagram.) This rig is great for presenting a small live bait whereas a simple ledger rig is best for offering dead bait. Nice and simple, very effective and it can be set up in less than 5 minutes... Easy!
If I was only to pass on one piece of knowledge I have learned in my years of pike fishing, it would be that there is no better bait than live bait – a small live roach, perch or skimmer bream of a couple of ounces (around 4 inches long) is perfect. This is such an effective bait that I have caught numerous pike literally within seconds of casting. Cast the bait in, wait for the float to cock, and if there is a hungry pike in the area it will snaffle it straight away. These live baits are best caught using maggots, small sections of worm or tiny pieces of bread on a simple float set up and kept in a bucket of water or keepnet. Always take one or two dead baits though, because if you don’t get any live bait you won’t have anything to fish with! Good dead baits for pike include freshwater fish (the ones mentioned above, my preference is to buy them frozen from tackle shops) or even sea dead baits including mackerel, sardines and smelt. These can be purchased from supermarkets, fishmongers or good tackle shops and I would particularly recommend smelt, a small, silver fish that oddly smells of cucumbers... Incidentally, although you will catch less pike on dead baits, they do tend to be larger fish, so if you fancy the chance of a monster give these a go.
Remember, according to UK law, any pike over 65cm can’t be removed for eating, so if you catch a big ’un, make sure it goes back into the water to see another day.
Other useful tackle items include a seat or seat box to keep yourself comfortable and transport other items including food/drink; some forceps to remove the hooks from a caught fish; a net; a rag to keep your hands clean; and maybe a few lures or spinners if you fancy a change of tactics.
Watercraft is another aspect that is key for a successful catch. The best anglers always have a great sense of where the fish will be in any particular water. To catch a fish you must think like a fish! Generally on rivers, lakes and canals you should look for fish far enough away from any bank side disturbance and in a reasonable depth of water (a minimum of 2-3 feet deep). Pike are ambush predators, and their beautiful mottled green and brown markings are designed to help them blend into the weeds and reeds where they lie in wait for their next unsuspecting meal. This means that any weeds, lilies, rushes or overhanging trees you can see are always great places to find pike. They feed on smaller shoal fish so always keep your eyes peeled for large swirls and small fry scattering on the surface, and remember to ask other anglers about where they have had success. Even if they are not fishing for pike, they may be catching the shoal fish that pike feed on and where there’s shoal fish, the pike will never be far away!
r i v e r 23.
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28. r i v e r
0< (66(17,$/ (48,30(17 )25 75287 ),6+,1* For a starter kit, buy a 9-9.5ft rod with an AFTM rating of 6 or 7. Go for Greys or Snowbee; both are good. If money is tight, buy from ebay. Second hand rods are so much cheaper and you should be able to pick up a model only a year or two old for half its retail price. If you want to save money, save it on the reel. Cheap ones (£15) are OK and will do the job.
When it comes to the line, I would suggest you buy a ‘weight forward floating’ line, by Snowbee XS or Cortland 444. Do not buy cheap lines, they will make life very hard. Expect to pay £30-40. This may seem expensive but it’s worth it. Use a tapered leader to start with – you will get much fewer tangles. This is a continuous piece of line that starts very thick and gradually thins down.
r i v e r 29.
0< 723 )/,(6 (Drum roll here please) There are two categories of flies: lures and imitators. Lures look nothing like any food the trout would eat or encounter normally. They tend to be big with bold colours; bright yellows, oranges, pinks etc. So why do trout eat them? Well, mostly out of curiosity. Fish don’t have hands so if they want to investigate something they use their mouth, much to their downfall at times when that ‘something’ has a hook in it. (This is true of tiger sharks too. They are notorious for having bizarre objects in their stomachs. At the Sharks Board Museum in Umhlanga, South Africa they have a cabinet holding all the strange objects found in tiger sharks during public dissections over the years. These include an industrial size can of corned beef, car registration plates – no joke, just like Jaws! – a tom-tom and a human skull.)
Anyway, back to trout. So brightly coloured lures can be great at catching trout but if you want a real challenge try catching them on a ‘natural imitator’. This is so much more rewarding as you have to learn what type of insects hatch at different times of the day/year (which is called entomology, not to be confused – and I’m sure you wouldn’t be anyway – with etymology, which is the study of the history of words, don’t you know) to work out what the trout are naturally feeding on and then try and offer something that both looks and behaves like the real thing. Quite difficult, I can tell you. So, start on my two lure patterns to catch a few trout and gain some confidence, then move on to the imitators once you get the hang of it.
0< 7:2 )$9285,7( /85(6 Fish these two shallow, in the top four feet of water, fish them quite fast and make sure your retrieve is erratic: a little tweak of the line, a long fast pull, then stop, then a short quick pull etc.
7+( 25$1*( %/2% Size 8 or 10. Basically it’s like a bit of scrunched up tinsel that wouldn’t look out of place on the Christmas tree. It comes in quite a few materials but my favourite is ‘fritz’. It glitters in the sun and pulses as you pull it through the water. The trout are totally confused by it, so check it out with their mouths. BIG mistake. Me -1 Trout - 0. Fish them 0-2 feet deep.
30. r i v e r
The bites are normally very positive as the trout tries to pull the rod into the water, instead of you pulling the trout out. Now get prepared for the weird names...
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Size 8. Very large with a woolly body and a fluffy tail. Try pink, black or orange. Fish them a little deeper than the blobs at 2-4 feet. Be prepared for a few ‘tugs’ on the line as the fish nip the tail before fully grabbing it and hooking themselves. My favourite is pink.
12: )25 7+( 1$785$/ ,0,7$7256
'$06(/ 1<03+ Size 10-12. Imitating the damsel fly, which is the smaller relative of the well known dragon fly. A medium/large size so when seen underwater by your trout can represent quite a meal. Damsel nymphs live near the bottom of the water or around weed beds so use your Damsel Nymph fly there.
&2&+ < %21'8 Size 12-16. A Welsh pattern that imitates little beetles.
63(17 0$<)/< Fished on the surface, to imitate the dead or dying ‘spent’ fly, after it has laid its eggs (mayflies only live for one day as flies; they have no mouth parts to feed with, so they just lay their eggs, then kark it). Once cast, leave them, only occasionally twitching them. Extremely exciting fishing when there is a huge swirl in the water, as a fish rises for the bait.
*2/' 5,%%(' +$5(·6 ($5 Size 10-14. A great brown/grey/tan coloured imitation that could be mistaken for a lot of the underwater nymphs (the organisms that live underwater before growing wings and swimming to the top to ‘hatch’ into a fly). The great saying of ‘if in doubt, put a GRHE on’ is very true. Fish them anywhere from the surface to the lake bed. The best all-rounder.
%8==(5 Size 12-16. Buzzers, or Chironomids to use the proper name, start off as small worm-like larvae (ever heard of the red bloodworm?) that later hatch into small flies including midges and mosquitoes, getting their name from the irritating noise they make when flying around your lug-hole. Quite small but usually a lot of them so the trout love ’em. Fish them up to 3 feet deep and VERY slowly.
So after following these key steps, you will hopefully get a trout to take home at the end of the day. Then all you have to do is follow the gutting and filleting ‘how to’s, (see pages 122-125) and check out Trevor’s great recipe ideas.
2 K Z Z c P S] R SX Q r i v e r 31.
),6+ ,1 )2,/ ONE OF THE SIMPLEST WAYS of cooking fish is to bake it in a foil parcel with
some choice ingredients – and this method works fantastically well with trout and salmon. All you need to do in terms of preparing the fish is to gut it and, if it is a scaly fish, descale it (see pages 122 -123 for how to do this). Then take a length of foil at least twice as long as the fish and lay the fish on it. You can then stuff the fish with your chosen ingredients before folding the foil in half to cover it. The edges of the foil should then be rolled over and folded to create a seal. Just before you seal your parcel, make sure you have added a liquid that will create steam – this can be butter, water or wine. Make sure your parcel is properly sealed, as the moisture needs to stay inside to prevent the fish from becoming dry. Preheat your oven to 180˚C, and then put the whole sealed parcel on a baking tray or rack and place in the oven. We usually cook our fish parcels for 20-30 minutes, depending on the size of the fish. To check if it is cooked, make a small incision in the foil and pull away at the flesh of the fish with a knife or fork. If the flesh comes away from the bones cleanly, then it is ready. Remove from the foil and serve with all the delicious cooking juices. Our favourite fresh fish foil combinations are below. (You can use these combinations of ingredients on fillets too if you prefer, adjusting the cooking time accordingly. I would suggest 15-20 minutes should be about right for a fillet.)
7+( 2/' &/$66,& This combination is hard to beat when used with trout or bass. Squeeze some lemon juice over the fish and sandwich some lemon slices into the belly cavity, and season with rock salt and freshly ground black pepper. Put a couple of bay leaves on the skin of the fish before sprinkling with thyme. Fold up the edges of the foil and just before you seal the last bit, pour in a good glug of white wine. Seal it up and bake in the oven. Serve with some crunchy green beans and boiled potatoes. The buttery juice can be poured over the potatoes to round off a delicious seafood feast.
36. r i v e r
[PER FISH] 1 LEMON 4 BAY LEAVES SPRIG OF THYME
½ CUP OF WHITE WINE
[PER FISH] 63,&( ,6 1,&(
This involves a bit of spice and is best suited to mullet or sea bass. Cut the lemongrass into 3cm long sections before crushing them to release the lovely lemony smell. Put this in the cavity of the fish along with the crushed cloves of garlic and sliced ginger. Coarsely chop the chilli (taking great care not to rub your eyes afterwards) and sprinkle over the fish. Make a parcel, remembering to pour in the white wine last, and cook for 20-30 minutes at 180˚C.
1 STALK OF LEMONGRASS 1 LIME 1 FINGER OF GINGER 4 CLOVES OF GARLIC 1–2 BIRDSEYE CHILLIES (DEPENDING ON HOW HOT YOU WANT IT)
½ CUP OF WHITE WINE
Serve with some stir-fried pak choi or chinese cabbage.
(;75$ 3(3 )25 32//2&. Pollock can be quite bland sometimes but if seasoned properly it is delicious. The intense flavours and colour from the chorizo will give it a hefty culinary kick and transform it into a meal worthy of kings. As pollock is a pretty big fish, it is better to use fillets for this recipe, rather than the whole fish, but the same principles apply.
[PER FISH] 1 SMALL CHORIZO SAUSAGE (AROUND 60G) SLICED INTO SMALL CUBES 1 BAY LEAF 1 TABLESPOON OF OLIVE OIL 2 BELL PEPPERS THINLY SLICED
Pour a good drizzle of olive oil onto the foil and lay a fillet of pollock on top. Then spread the chorizo slices, bell pepper slices and bay leaf over the top of the fillet. Splash a bit of water or wine over the whole lot before sealing up the parcel and baking for 15-20 mins at 180˚C (again, a slightly shorter cooking time for a fillet required). Serve with some lovely, fresh steamed vegetables.
r i v e r 37.
48. r o c k s
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028/(6 0$5,1,Ă&#x2039;5( MOST OF THE WORK with mussels goes into preparing them for the pot and
after that, it is all plain sailing. This is a basic recipe, which can be elaborated on with extra ingredients but all you really need are the mussels, a couple of vegetables, and maybe a splash of wine.
56. r o c k s
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[SERVES 4]
The first step is to prepare the mussels. The best thing to do is collar someone who didn’t help with collecting the mussels or the washing up last night. Explain that we live in a democratic society and that everyone needs to do their bit, give them a short, stout knife and tell them to get on with it. If everyone has magically disappeared, which is usually the case, then you need to sit yourself down and get ready to put some elbow grease in.
1KG MUSSELS 2 CARROTS 1 LEEK 2 CLOVES CHOPPED GARLIC SPLASH OF WHITE WINE
The mussels must be as clean as possible before you cook them, which means removing any tube worms (the white casings on the mussel shells), barnacles (little shells growing on the mussel shells that look like volcanoes) and other bits and pieces that aren’t nice to eat. You also need to remove the ‘byssus’ or beard (mentioned earler) that the mussels use to hold on to the rocks. The way to do this is hold the beard in between your thumb and a table knife and pull it away. After 100 or so mussels, your hands might well be sore from all the scraping and pulling, so that’s why it is a good idea to get some other people involved. Most importantly, if you come across any mussels that are cracked or open, these need to be discarded. If they close tight when you touch them they should be OK but if in doubt get rid of them. You should be left with a pan full of clean and closed mussels that will, in a matter of minutes, be in your belly. All you need to do now is chop your vegetables and you’re ready to start cooking. I like to put a splash of oil in the bottom of a large saucepan and fry the garlic and vegetables for a minute or two to get the flavours going. Once you can smell the garlic cooking add the mussels and splash of wine and put a lid on your pan. The moisture from the mussels, combined with the wine will be enough to steam them. You only need to cook them for around 5 minutes, any longer than this and they will become tough and chewy. It is very important that you discard any mussels that don’t open after this stage; these are not good for eating. Then simply spoon the mussels into bowls together with any juice from the bottom of the pan. To eat, pull the mussels out of their shells and mop up the juice with buttered brown bread. Or serve with some matchstick-thin pommes frites if you are feeling French. For a hot, spicy Thai-style variation on this dish, you can add chopped fresh chilli, ginger and lemongrass to your pot of mussels.
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HOW TO CATCH A MACKEREL ALTHOUGH I HAVE heard of a challenge that involves catching a mackerel in every month of the year in the UK (apparently it’s possible!), the summer months of June to September will, without doubt, give you your best chance to snare one. During these months, the mackerel head into the shallower waters all round the UK to spawn and feed, often congregating in huge shoals that can stretch for hundreds of metres. Their ferocious appetite and seemingly small number of brain cells make them a relatively easy catch. Although I’m not completely certain that they have low IQs, I think it is a fair assumption to make, having caught some last year using a clothes label! Yes, you heard me correctly. In true Three Hungry Boys style, last year in Scotland, I fashioned a set of mackerel feathers (that are supposed to imitate the small fry that they feed on) by slicing the white washing label from Trevor’s t-shirt and attaching strips of it to my hooks. I’ll tell you how you can do the same on page 84. An interesting fact about mackerel is that they must swim constantly in order to survive. They have no swim bladder (a fish’s buoyancy aid which controls how deep it goes) so would sink if they stopped swimming. They also use a passive gill ventilation method to breathe, meaning they swim with their mouth open to allow water to pass over the gills. This constant swimming creates a firm flesh that means that they fight hard on the rod but are also one of the most delicious to eat.
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7KH 9HOYHW 6KDQN (Flammulina velutipes) I’m assuming by the common name you’ve already guessed the key identification characteristic of this mushroom, and if you haven’t… it’s the shank... and it’s velvety. But there’s also another great identification point, and that is the time of year it comes out to play, long after most mushrooms have well and truly called it a day (or year). The velvet shank has a special compound that allows it to be frozen solid without destroying its cell
walls, hence it can survive even the harshest of frosts. Growing in pretty clusters on dead trees or stumps, especially elm, the sticky orange-yellow caps stand out nicely. The cluster usually has a varied degree of young and old members amongst it, with the older ones tending to have darker stems that are the most velvety. Luckily, it’s just the caps we eat, as the stems are tough and frankly, they look black and pretty unappetising too.
Cap
Orange that fades to pale orange, yellow at cap edge, up to 8-10cm. Can invert itself and roll backwards as it matures
Stem
Up to 6cm long, similar colour to cap when young, darkening to brown/black when older. Velvety, more pronounced when black/older
Gills
Cream to pale yellow and widely spaced
Flesh
Yellow
Spore colour
Yellow
Smell
No distinctive smell
Habitat
Grows, often in dense clusters, on dead wood stumps, mostly elm and oak
Time of Year
Main distinguishing feature: October–February, can survive frosts when all others have called it a day
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